A number of Danes used a Chinese state visit in 2012 to express support for Tibet. (Photo courtesy: thelocal.dk)

(TibetanReview.net, Oct01, 2015) – A court in Copenhagen has on Sep 29 ruled against the police in the Danish capital over allegation that they acted illegally when their officers detained a protester and forced him to put down his Tibetan flag during the state visit of the then Chinese President Hu Jintao in Jun 2012, reported thelocal.dk Sep 29. The report noted that the police actions to suppress demonstrators at that time were at the centre of considerable controversy and a legal battle had continued to play out in the court system over the activists’ contention that police acted illegally. Following the court ruling, Copenhagen police have ordered an independent investigation.

The report said that audio files and witness testimony presented in the Eastern High Court the week before had contradicted the official police version of events. And the court ruled that one activist was unlawfully detained for an hour as officers forced him to put down his Tibetan flag.

The report noted that a number of Danes had used the Chinese president’s visit to express their support for Tibet, but police were accused of attempting to save face and keep activists out of President Hu’s sight by stopping the demonstrations.

The report cited one police officer as saying he was “shocked” to hear Copenhagen Police say that it had been unable to identify the involved officers, as he himself was one of them.

“As there have been questions publicly raised about false explanations and incomplete information regarding the identification of police officers, I have today decided to refer the matter to the Independent Police Complaints Authority,” police Commissioner Thorkild Fogde was quoted as saying.

Justice Minister Søren Pind was also reported to have asked Copenhagen Police to account for their actions during the Chinese president’s state visit.